1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is related to the field of software applications and mobile computing, particularly software for entertainment purposes such as playable video games on mobile devices capable of determining their approximate location on, in, or above the Earth.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile devices are now commonly equipped with geolocation capabilities. Geolocation is, for purposes of this application, the ability for hardware or software to determining the approximate locational coordinates of a person, device, or other thing in, on, or above the Earth. While any device capable of geolocation using any geolocation technology or system is specifically contemplated herein, at present most geolocation technology makes use of orbiting satellites to determine the location of a geolocation receiver on Earth. Examples of these systems include GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, COMPASS, IRNSS, and QZSS. Of these, GPS presently is the most mature and advanced system and enjoys the widest deployment and implementation on mobile devices in the United States. There are also non-satellite based geolocation systems, such as geolocation by Internet Protocol address (see, e.g., www.geobytes.com).
Geolocation technology may be included in almost any type of device. Commercial uses of geolocation technology include navigation systems, mobile phones, tablet computers, e-book readers, portable and hand-held gaming systems, portable and hand-held audio players, beepers, pagers, and laptop computers. There are also extensive non-commercial uses for geolocation technology in mobile devices, such as law enforcement and military applications, which could implement the present invention. Geolocation technology can also be implemented in devices that are not conventionally thought of as “mobile,” but which nevertheless can be mobilized and/or miniaturized to make use of the present invention, including without limitation desktop PCs and console gaming systems.
Most mobile devices include a microprocessor capable of executing computer instructions to run software applications. Applications are typically loaded unto the device by the manufacturer, distributor, vendor, or end-user/consumer. This is generally done through a wire, cable, or over a wireless connection.
On many mobile devices, these applications have the ability to access and use the geolocation feature of the mobile device to determine the geolocation coordinates for the location of the device. On many mobile devices, these applications are playable video games or other types of entertainment software. On many mobile devices, these applications have the ability to communicate with other devices over a network, including the Internet, using wired and/or wireless network connections.
Despite the portability of a mobile device and the widespread access to the Internet, playing a video game on a mobile device is still a sedentary experience. The location of the player or the device at the time that the player is playing the game does not have any impact on the game play experience. That is, the game play experience is the same regardless of where the player is located at the time that the player plays the game. The only source of information about the game that is relevant to the player's gaming experience is the information displayed on the mobile device by the gaming application itself. As such, games generally require that, while the player is playing the game, the player must focus primarily or exclusively on the device itself, and not the world around him, in order to play the game successfully and fully enjoy the game play experience.
Thus, while the player is playing the game, the player must generally remain still and focused on the mobile device. If the player is not still, he either risks injury to himself or others for lack of concentration on his environment while focused on the mobile device, or he plays the game ineffectively and does not fully enjoy the game play experience for lack for concentration on the mobile device while focused on the real-world environment. This means that mobile gaming is “mobile” only in the sense that the player moves the sedentary experience of playing a video game to a location other than the player's living room, but the game play itself is not a “mobile” experience.
This is true even with motion-sensing entertainment technologies, such as the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinekt, which use the motion of the player or a controller as input to the game. These are “motion”-sensing technologies, not “mobile” technologies. The player's motion may be an input but the player is still confined to a single location, such as his living room where the motion-sensing game console is located, while playing the game. Even using these motion-sensing technologies, the player still is not going anywhere and the game play experience, while involving motion, does not involve mobility.